PRICE tags attached to packages of school nursing support in Cumbria are not affordable in the long term as education budgets become tighter, headteachers across the area have said.

Schools across the county received a brochure on Wednesday outlining their opportunity to 'buy back' one of three levels of school nursing service from April.

They have until Friday to inform the Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust which package of support they are committing to buy for the year ahead.

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Current school nursing provision has been cut after cash poor council bosses declared it was too expensive to keep.

Graham Frost, of the Cumbria branch of the National Association of Head Teachers, said education budgets were set to diminish in real terms, meaning schools would be unlikely to be able to spare the cash for extra services like school nursing in the future.

"In the short term there may be schools that can get together enough money to do this. Schools that desperately need the service may be able to buy it back.

"But the fact is they won't be able to do it in the long term.

"School nurses were funded through health, now that is being transferred to education.

"It's going to leave schools with difficult decisions to make."

Schools will have access to strategic school nursing advice and support from a team of six school age health coordinators based in Carlisle.

But in addition, headteachers will be able to purchase one of three levels of extra school nurse support - with half a day a week costing £3,750 a year and a day a week coming in at £7,500.

A third option - a full time school nurse - is available for consortiums of five schools who are prepared to club together to meet the £35,000 a year cost.

Headteachers are now set to assess which level of support matches most closely with their need before approaching school governing bodies on whether there is enough money in the education budget to pay for provision.

Nancy McKinnell, headteacher of South Walney Primary School, in Barrow, said the three tiers of support did not seem flexible enough for most schools.

Mrs McKinnel added: "School nurses are just so important as the link between health schools and families.

"We might need more support at certain times of the year than others. Buying in a set morning a week doesn't seem flexible enough to meet the need of schools."

But public health bosses insist the new model of service will provide schools with better, more equitable support overall as Cumbria County Council - the area's public health provider - strengthens teams of experts overseeing the area's vulnerable children.

Colin Cox, CCC's director of public health, said: "Some area's have simply stopped school nursing altogether but we have worked very hard to keep a professional health input in schools.

"This is a system that is at least as safe, if not better, than we have had in recent times, within the limits of our funding."

Mr Cox added: "At the moment, school nurses are stretched and frequently attend safeguarding meetings to represent health for children they don't personally know, something they find frustrating.

"That's not good enough. This new system will give better support to the most vulnerable children while giving schools access to a more frequent service than they have had in the past."

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